{"id":141560,"date":"2025-09-16T17:02:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T17:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/141560\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T17:02:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T17:02:11","slug":"mother-sues-hospital-that-dismissed-her-three-year-old-daughters-sepsis-symptoms-as-a-virus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/141560\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother sues hospital that dismissed her three-year-old daughter’s sepsis symptoms as a virus"},"content":{"rendered":"

A grieving mother is suing a hospital that dismissed her three-year-old daughter’s sepsis<\/a> symptoms as a virus.<\/p>\n

Little Penny Stevens died after her mother, Jemma Graham, rushed her to St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex, on the advice of NHS<\/a> 111.<\/p>\n

The toddler had a chesty cough, vomiting and a rash, but despite also having a high temperature, rapid heartbeat and breathing problems, she was not prioritised for urgent care.<\/p>\n

With the department being ‘clearly overwhelmed’, Ms Graham was warned by doctors that little Penny would face several hours of waiting.<\/p>\n

Medics incorrectly recorded that Penny was not lethargic or irritable, even though she had to be held in her mother’s arms.<\/p>\n

After waiting more than two hours, the mother made the agonising decision to take Penny home, reassured by staff who insisted there was no sign of anything serious.<\/p>\n

But overnight her condition deteriorated rapidly, and around 4am she was rushed back by ambulance after going into cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n

Despite 80 minutes of resuscitation attempts, Penny died the following morning from Group A Strep sepsis.<\/p>\n

\"Little <\/p>\n

Little Penny Stevens died after doctors at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex did not prioritise her sepsis symptoms and dismissed it as a virus<\/p>\n

Since then, a Patient Safety Investigation Report by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has admitted that it missed the opportunity to escalate the urgent sepsis assessment.<\/p>\n

The grieving mother, from Emsworth, Hampshire, has now instructed\u00a0medical negligence lawyers to launch legal action against the trust following the tragedy in December 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An inquest into Penny’s death previously heard she was\u00a0taken to the hospital on December 3 after suffering a chesty cough and low-grade temperature for three days. It concluded that Penny died of natural causes.<\/p>\n

Penny, who has a younger brother named Charlie, now aged five, was triaged at 6.20pm.<\/p>\n

Despite her signs and symptoms, her condition was classed as ‘green’ and not requiring a follow-up assessment for a further two hours.<\/p>\n

During that time, Ms Graham was asked to try and provide a sample of Penny’s urine but she was crying and unable to pass any.<\/p>\n

She said:\u00a0‘We took her to hospital on the advice of NHS 111 after she became poorly, but the department was clearly overwhelmed.’<\/p>\n

She said she was told the little one was ‘probably suffering from a virus’ and the staff didn’t seem concerned that anything more serious was happening.<\/p>\n

‘I made the decision to take her home rather than keep her waiting in the hospital, which was absolutely manic at the time.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"With <\/p>\n

With the department being ‘clearly overwhelmed’, Ms Graham was warned by doctors that little Penny would face several hours of waiting. Pictured: Penny Stevens with her brother Charlie<\/p>\n

After waiting for more than two hours, Penny had not been re-assessed, and the mother took her home, where she believed she would be more comfortable.<\/p>\n

A discharge summary was generated, saying treatment had been completed, the investigation report said.<\/p>\n

At approximately 4am on December 4, the call was made to 999. Penny, who was described as ‘bright, funny, and full of joy’ by her mother, died later that morning.<\/p>\n

Ms Graham added:\u00a0‘What followed has broken us as a family in ways that nobody should ever have to endure.<\/p>\n

‘We remain devastated by Penny’s death and are left wondering if more could have been done that night to help her. It’s hard not to think of how things should be, in a world where Penny would still be at home with us, growing up, and creating mischief with her brother.<\/p>\n

‘I don’t blame the staff on duty that night. They were working in impossible circumstances. My concerns lie with the system and the conditions that both patients and medical staff have to face.<\/p>\n

‘I’d do anything to have Penny back with us, and want every parent to know the signs of sepsis. People have probably heard of sepsis, but they need to know how dangerous it is. Don’t assume someone else will spot it.’<\/p>\n

Laura Hayes-Payne, the medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing Ms Graham, said: ‘Jemma remains devastated by the incredibly tragic circumstances surrounding Penny’s death.<\/p>\n

\"Penny's <\/p>\n

Penny’s mother said:\u00a0‘We remain devastated by Penny’s death and are left wondering if more could have been done that night to help her’.\u00a0Pictured: Penny Stevens with her brother Charlie<\/p>\n

‘The Hospital Trust’s own investigation report has identified worrying issues in the care Penny received, including not recognising signs of sepsis or referring her for an urgent review.<\/p>\n

‘Jemma continues to have concerns about what happened to her daughter.<\/p>\n

‘All she wants is to ensure that all possible issues in Penny’s care are identified and acknowledged by the Trust, and that lessons are learnt so that other families don’t have to endure what she and her family have.<\/p>\n

‘Through our work, we continue to see too many families impacted by sepsis.<\/p>\n

‘Penny’s death highlights its dangers, the need for everyone to be aware of the symptoms and how early detection and treatment are essential.’<\/p>\n

Signs of sepsis in children can include fever, confusion, reduced urine output, fast breathing, having a fit, mottled or blueish skin that may feel abnormally cold to the touch, a rash, lethargy, irritability, or a child being difficult to wake.<\/p>\n

Dr Maggie Davies, chief nurse at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, said ‘We extend our deepest sympathies to Penny’s family for the heartbreaking loss of their beloved daughter, and the immense grief they continue to endure.<\/p>\n

‘The national Group A Streptococcus outbreak in December 2022 placed enormous pressure on patients, families, and the dedicated staff who cared for them. We are so sorry that we were not able to prevent Penny’s death.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A grieving mother is suing a hospital that dismissed her three-year-old daughter’s sepsis symptoms as a virus. Little…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[97,59,102,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-141560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}